Indian & European football – What’s the biggest difference?

Indian
& European football – What’s the biggest difference?

You
are wrong if you say it is ‘players’!

What is the biggest difference
between Indian and European football? Definitely not the players but the
infrastructure that shapes them. In the words of the young Indian goalkeeper
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, "The first and foremost
thing is the basic infrastructure, the training pitches and the match grounds.
They (European countries) are top class and the amount of professionalism in
every single department and the level of coaching, how to nurture a player, is
also very good and positive.

No doubt, this is the opinion of
many more people who are closely involved with the game. One of the ways to
promote the sport in India is All India Football Federation and its member
associations supporting those football clubs that have good infrastructure. It
is also important to discourage those clubs that are inactive and lack
facilities. This way, the competition for spots in football clubs increases. A
simple process of screening the clubs - both the affiliated and the ones that
are yet to receive affiliation – can do a lot of good to the game. Award the
best ones, discard the inactive ones, revamp the system right from the
bottom-most divisions and you will see the change.

Why not the ones that have good
facilities get affiliation of state associations?

The clamor
for better football infrastructure is not new in India which currently holds
the 141st place in FIFA World Ranking in men’s football. Unless there
is good infrastructure and training facilities, it is hard for any upcoming
footballer to be at the top of his game or to play for some of the best-known
clubs in the world. Well-equipped clubs that have good grounds, excellent
training pitches and great infrastructure can take Indian football to an all
new level.